The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government.
Read our disclaimer for details.

Until positive results were found with oral naltrexone, no medication has been effective against amphetamine dependence. The primary aim of this pilot study is to replicate the findings of the Swedish team that showed oral Naltrexone prevented relapse to amphetamine addiction and to extend their results by randomizing treatment-seeking amphetamine addicted patients to a 6 month course of VIVITROL (naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension) or VIVITROL placebo. Patients in each group will receive drug counseling. VIVITROL is administered monthly and may be a better test of efficacy than tablets that must be taken daily.

The Amphetamine Craving Scale is a visual analogue scale, which is scored by indicating the level of craving on a 100 mm line, where 0 is no craving at all and 100 is the highest level of craving experienced. Scores are derived from measuring their placement on the line, yielding scores from 0 to 100.

Beck Depression Inventory [ Time Frame: 24 weeks ]

The Beck Depression Inventory is a self-administered questionnaire that assess the severity of depressive symtpoms. It consists of 21 items about how the subject has been feeling in the last week, and each item has a set of at least four possible answer choices, ranging in intensity, yielding scores from 0-3, with a total possible score of 63. Higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms.

Risk Assessment Battery [ Time Frame: 24 weeks ]

The Risk Assessment Battery is a 41 item self-report questionnaire that assess risk behaviors related to HIV infection over the past 6 months. The measure yields a Drug risk score ranging from 0-22 and a Sex risk score ranging from 0-18, with higher scores indicating more risk; these scores are added to yield a Total RAB score ranging from 0-40. This total scores is then divided by 40 to yield a RAB Scale Score from 0-1.

Prior Admissions to Vogur Hospital [ Time Frame: Baseline ]

Number of prior admissions due to substance dependence. The term "prior admissions" refers to admissions before enrollment, thus Baseline is the appropriate Time Frame.

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years and older (Adult, Senior)

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Age 18 or above;

Diagnosis of amphetamine dependence as defined by DSM-IV-TR with 10 or more days of amphetamine use in the past month, and patient and clinician identify amphetamine dependence as the main problem;